Piling.



L. E. EDMUNDS.

FILING.

APPLICATION FILED 5136.28. 1903.

905,672. Patented Dec. 1,1908

/a/@% I 5? a 23 l ea tEZ'dmz/zds I r a r x /m ATTORNEY If 1 v UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

v LEVI E. EDMUNDS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANJA.

FILING.

Specification .of Letters Patent. Application filed August 28, 1908.Serial No. 450,700.

To all whom it may concern l are placed together. Fig. 6, o Sllilllfflview Be it known that I, Luv; E. EnMUNDs, e l at right angles to Fig. 5showing the tongue citizen of the United States, residing at Philei andgroove 01' the locking members. Fig. 7, dolphin, county of Philadelphia,and State 1 an enlarged plan view or the facing planks. of Pennsylvania,have invented e certain i Fig. 8, an edge view of [he loner end of thenew and useful'lmproveinent in Filings, 0i i facing plankswhicheresccurod to the pilings, which the followin is a specification. land Fig. 9, o. similar view ol' the centoriecing My invention re ritesto a new and useful 1 plank.

' In carrying out my invention as here em- No. 905,672. Patented Dec. 1,1908.

improvementin. pilings, and has for its object to provide an exceedinglysimple and hodicd A represents a number i:i'" ilin s, effective deviceof this character whereby two sides of which may he hcwcd or sawed thepilings may be locked to other thus until they are comparatively [hitand sn'iooth forming a solid wall, and one w iich will be 1 on one ofthose llst-sidrs ism-cured the tongue im enetrahle to sand, mud and thelike. I joiner B which has previous to fastening it to t is a well knownfact that it is next to 5 the piling, been formed on the some taper asim iossihle to dredge a. channel in quick send l the piling on which ithas been fastened, thus as each time a bucket oi sand is withdrawnmaking its outer edge pcrpondirnlor and to the send from the sides willat once move in the op ositc side is attached the grooved the hole fromwhich the bucket oi. send is joiner i which is prepared in the somementaken, hut by the use of my improvement nor asthe joiner B', thelower edges of these this will be entirely overcome because the joiner-sere sharpened as indicated l2 1) so pilings may be driven until thereachthe that they will readily enter tln' sand or more SOll(l earth ormud beneeti the quick earth when the pilings are being placed in sand,and when these pilings have been osition. On the edge of one of theseplaced along the sides of the channel the oiners is seemed a. clasp ll.having a portion whole length thereof the sand may be taken F cut away,on the oouttn'ig joiner 1s eti which this invention eppertains mayunderout the pilings preventing any of the send from the outside fromentering.

Another object of my invention is to provide interlocking pilings inwhich it will'not be required to lift each piling the full height of theone last driven to interlock them.

Another ob'ect oi my invention is to provide an inter ocking iling inwhich very little metal will be used? With these ends in view, thisinvention consists in the details of construction and combination ofelements hereinafter set teched the clasp G which is adapted to ongagewith the clasp E and said clasp G has a portion H cut away that when onepiling has been driven the next one is brought to the )osition shown inFig. 5 at which time the lower portion of theclesp G- entcrs the cutaway portion of the clasp E and the upper portion of the clasp E entersthe cut away H of the clasp G, and when the pilings are brought to therelative position shown in Fig. 5 by lowr r ng the upper one the ClaspsE and G will engage with one another and forth and then specificallydesignated by the when said pili igs are in position they will heclaims. prevented from moving apart.

In order that those skilled in the art to When pilings have been putlLOgOtl'lCl' according to my invention and. having remained in the waterfor some time the pilings and joiners being of wood will swell forming aperfectly writer tight joiner.

On one or two sides of the pilings'mey be secured the facing ")lanks Iwhich are tongued and groove the lower ends of which are beveled fromthe face thereof towards the pilings as indicated by J so that indriving the pilings with these facing planks stand how to make and usethe same, I. will describe its construction in detail, referring byletter to the accompanying drawing forming? part of this specification,in. whichigure 1 is a, side elevation of a number of pilings made inaccordance with my improvement. Fig. 2, a plan view thereof showin themused in the construction of a channel: sewer, subway, canal. collar orthe like.

Fig. 3, a similar view of pilings showin the secured thereto said plankswill press toway in which they are placed to maze n words the pilingsinstead of'awzty from them mm. Fig. 4, a similar view of a modifiedshould they hit a herdsulrstance as would be form of my improvement.Fig. 5, a side the case if they were sharpened in elevation of twopilings showing how they the opposite direction. Running through thesefacing planks into the pilings are suitable screws 1Q, bolts or thelike, the uppermost ones of which are in the center of the pihngs andeach successive lower one is nearer the edge of the piling, the reasonfor which Wlll be hereinafter described. The heads of these bolts areallowed to extend a short distance beyond the outer edge of the facingplanks I and these heads are made of any suitable shape or size.

L denotes a center facing plank which is.

tongued and grooved and adapted to engage with the tongue and groove onthe other facing planks, the lower end being sharpened as indicated at Mso that when driven it will enter the ground on a straight line. Tothese facing planks l4 are secured the metalhc straps N the upper one ofwhich is lon er than the rest, each successive lower one being madesmaller than the one above, on the ends of these straps are formed thelu s O extending downward therefrom and these are adapted to engage withthe screws or bolts K the heads of said screws and bolts preventing themfrom slipping.

Ehould the tongue or groove in any way become broken in placing thecenter facing board in osition the lower strap will pass between t eupper bolts and when it comes in osition with the lowest bolts the lugsO Wll overlap said bolts and the other straps will engage with their resective bolts which will hold the facing plan securely in position.

if found desirable, claspssirnilar to those used upon the joiners may besecured to the edges of the facing planks which would do away with thestraps yet would act in the same manner. 'hen these facing'planks areused on both sides of the pilingrs the 'oiners may be dispensed with ifso desired.

'hen these facing lanks have been placed into position they eave a spaceP between them and the pilin "s and joiners which space if desired ma hedied with cement thus inclosing the c asps so that should they be ofmetal the salt water will be prevented from coming in contact therewithand in this way saving them from corroding.

In making a turn the pilings are set out of a line with one another andwhen facing lanks are used on each turn the center facing plank in theouter groove is wider and the center facing plank used on the insidegroove is made narrower thus compensating for the distance between thefacing planks which are secured to the pilings.

If a very strong joint is wanted the clasps E and (i may be placed onboth sides of t c joiners and if a strong sea is running in onedirection one set of clasps will take the strain and when the sea isrunning in the opposite direction another set of clasps will take thestrain, this form being clearly shown in Fig 4.

In practice it is found desirable while building a channel, canal,sewer, subway, cel ar or the like in certain parts of the country toexclude quick sand or water and by the use of my improved pilings whichform a perfect water tight joint these things may be prevented frominterrupting that part of the operation when it is desirable to excludethem and in the case of canal building it is first found desirable toexclude quick sand or water until the canal is dug and when the canal isfinished the water must be kept in which may be done by my improvedpilings for if they will exclude it they will also retain it.

Of course I do not wish to be limited to the exact details ofconstruction hcre shown as these may be varied within certain limitswithout departing from the spirit of my invention.

llaving thus fully described my invention what. I claim as new anduseful i s In combination, a number of pilin s, a ton ue joiner cut tothe taper of each p'ling, the ower end of said joiner being sharpened, agrooved joiner cut to the taper of each piling secured to the oppositeside of said piling, the lower edge thereof being sharpened said joinersadapted to engage with one another, a clasp having a portion cut awaynear its upper end secured to the edge of one of the joiners, a secondclasp having a portion cut away from its lower end secured to the edgeof the other joiner, said clasps adapted to engage with one another,facing planks fastened to the piling, screws or bolts, the heads ofwhich extend a short distance beyond the outer face of the facingplanks, the upper bolts entering the ilings at about the center thereof,and eac successive lower set being closer to the inner edgeiof thepiling, a center facing plank havng secure thereto a number ol metalstra s,

the upper one of which is longer than t e others, and lugs formed oneither end of said 7 straps which are adapted to engage with the screwsor bolts in the pilings when the facing planks are in position.

2. in combination a number of pilings, a tongue joiner to one side ofeach piling, the lower end of said joiner being sharpened, a groovedjoiner secured to the opposite side of each said piling, the lower edgethereof, being sharpened, said joincrs adapted to engage with otherjoincrs on the adjacent piling, a clasp having a portion cut away nearits upper end secured to the edge of one of the jomers, a second clasphaving a portion cut away from its lower end secured to the edge of theother joiner said clasp adapted to engage with other clasps on theadjacent joiners, tonglped and grooved facing planks fastened to t eiling, nails, screws or bolts, the heads of w rich extend a shortdistance beyond the outer face of the facing planks, the upper boltsentering the pilings at about the center thereof, and each successivelower set being closer to the inner edge of the pilings, a centertongued and grooved facing plank the lower end of which 15 sharpenedhaving secured. thereto a number of inctalstraps the upper one of whichis longer than the others, and lugs formed on either end of said strapswhich are adapted to engage with the screws or bolts in the pilings whenthe facing plank is in position.

3. in combination, a number of pilings, a tongued joiner secured to oneside of each of said pilings, the lower end of said joiner beingsharpened a grooved joiner secured to the opposite side of eachadjoining piling, the lower ed e thereof being sharpened, said joinersarapted to engage with each other, a clasp having a ortion cut away nearits upper end, secured to the edge of one of the joiners, a second clasphaving a portion ,cut away from. its lower end secured to the ed e ofthe other 'oiner, said clasp adapte to engage with other clasps, groovedand tongued facing planks secured to each of the pllings, screws orbolts, the heads of which extend beyond the outside face of the facingplanks, center grooved and tongued facing planks, metal straps having,lugs formed with either end .thereof secured to said center facingplanks, said lugs adapted to en age with the screws or bolts, as shownand escribed.

4. In a device of the character described, a number of pilings, tonguedand grooved joiners secured to two sides of adjoinin ilings, claspssecured to the edges of sai oiners, said joiners and clas s adapted toengage with other joiners ant clasps as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a device of the character described, a number of pilings, tonguedand grooved joiners secufiad to two sides of said pilings the tonguedjoiners of one piling adapted to engage with the grooved joiner-s ofanother piling, clasps secured to the edge of said joiners adapted toengage with one another, facing planks and means for securing saidlacing planks to the pilings, as specified.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto afllxed my signature in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

LEVI E. EDMUNDS.

Witnesses ALBERT L. BRADLEY, ANNIE R. EDMUNDS.

